Update: The VBscript code i had was both long and buggy. The new code is short and sweet, and at least works no less than the previous code.
BGinfo is a nifty piece of software which can print out a whole lot of technical information on the desktop background of a Windows box. As an administrator for a bunch of client machines, BGinfo has proven Most Useful.
There are two issues, however. Sometimes the information i use on my backgrounds can be a bit over the top. And then there’s one little bit of info not included in the admittedly colossal BGinfo arsenal: whether the computer needs rebooting after having been updated. So here’s my fix.
Step Zero is to download BGinfo from the link above and save it anywhere that can be addressed over the Windows network during a logon procedure. I chose the domain controller’s Netlogon share, or \\%LOGONSERVER%\NETLOGON in the examples below. In reality, i used the real name of the logon server instead of %LOGONSERVER% but i suppose the variable name will work just as well. You might need to add %-signs for added magic.
I then created a minimal BGinfo template with just the hostname, IP address and a custom field i call Is Reboot Required. The template uses the user’s own default wallpaper and the BGinfo data is aligned to the top right of the window. Your mileage may vary. Save the template with the BGinfo executive. My path is \\%LOGONSERVER%\NETLOGON\bginfo-minimal.bgi
The custom field Is Reboot Required points to the output of a certain is-reboot-required Visual basic script, saved with above two files as is-reboot-required.vbs:
If CreateObject("Microsoft.Update.SystemInfo").RebootRequired Then
Echo "Reboot required"
End if
Old code. Don’t use:
function readFromRegistry (strRegistryKey, strDefault )
Dim WSHShell, value
On Error Resume Next
Set WSHShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
value = WSHShell.RegRead( strRegistryKey )
if err.number <> 0 then
readFromRegistry= strDefault
else
readFromRegistry=value
end if
set WSHShell = nothing
end function
str = readFromRegistry( "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\PendingFileRenameOperations", "no" )
if( isNull( str )) then
msg = ""
else
msg = "Reboot required"
end if
Echo msg
What the script does is check whether (Windows Update, usually) requires some files to be renamed during the next reboot cycle. This information is stored in the PendingFileRenameOperations registry key. If it’s non-empty,If our computer’s Microsoft Update client deems a reboot is required, we emit the administrator-friendly message “Reboot required”, otherwise we just shut up (having a “Reboot not required” message on the wallpaper isn’t what i call good usability).
Disclaimers: This script works when plugged in but not when run on the command line, oddly enough. And, i’m no VBS guru. The script was created by creative copy-pasting from other resources on the ‘Net.
To paste things together, i created the following one-liner batch file bginfo-minimal.cmd:
\\%LOGONSERVER%\NETLOGON\bginfo.exe \\%LOGONSERVER%\NETLOGON\bginfo-minimal.bgi /timer:0 /nolicprompt
Finally, i added \\%DOMAINCONTROLLER%\NETLOGON\bginfo-minimal.cmd in the startup scripts. Since this happened a week ago, i can’t remember if i did it through Group Policy or through the Administrator’s logon script or (ungh) through the Startup group in the Start menu but in any case it works. If i did it the Right Way (through Group Policy), that means i had to create a new Organizational Unit “Wizards”, add a custom group Admins, add Domain Administrators to it, create a new Group Policy to the Wizards, and apply the bginfo-minimal.cmd from the right path to that group, for that is the way of Windows Server 2003. But then again, i might just have been lazy.
